Joshua’s insight into securing a Finance, Audit and Risk Associate role with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority & Energus

We recently caught up with Joshua about how he secured a role with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority & Energus, his top tips for the application process and how Bright Network helped him secure the role.

What stood out to you about the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority & Energus?

It was the cause and purpose of the organisation for sure. The NDA is an executive non-departmental body of the government dedicated to decommissioning the UK's legacy nuclear power stations. This is a unique sector of work that I'm passionate about as the UK looks to fuel the country and the economy using greener initiatives and seek to improve the efficiency of the nuclear power network to serve us for the decades or perhaps centuries come.

Also, the way the recruitment process was managed was brilliant with support throughout the process to ensure everything was done correctly. The energy and vibes at the assessment centre, interviews and onboarding process and ice-breaking activities have been brilliant.

How did you build your commercial awareness before the interview?

I got weekly commercial awareness emails from Bright Network on finance and also subscribed to plenty of newsletters on finance and energy on LinkedIn. I also did some external reading on topics of interest and relevance to ensure I understood what was happening around me and in the industry I had secured a role in.

I also engaged with people I knew from my network who had or currently do work in finance and sought information about working in that sector and advice to secure a role in finance. This was also the same for a few people outside of my immediate connections who may have a different perspective and provide different but equally useful insight.

What would be your top tips to members going through the application process?

1. Don't take rejection personally - the job market is rife with competition at the moment, and the pandemic and its ongoing effects have affected recruiting practices for companies exacerbating the situation further. Take each rejection on the chin - for every closed door another opens, and the right job is just around the corner.
2. Get feedback - with every application, particularly those where you've reached an interview or assessment centre stage and even the one you secure a role with, seek feedback. Feedback is invaluable and will always help you to improve yourself to help with securing a role and make you a more well-rounded person.
3. Seek advice and mentorship - reach out to your network and see who has experience in areas of interest and explore what made them go into it, how they did it, and see whether they can help you to get your dream job. I started this when I was about 16 when I initially wanted to go into accounting, and it has paid dividends now.

How did Bright Network help you secure this role?

Bright Network's Internship Experience UK really helped me develop my skills in finance and helped bulk up my CV and LinkedIn with relevant experience and really impressed prospective employers who maybe didn't expect a greater level of understanding of complex esoterica. This was in conjunction with networking with companies hosting these events to get greater insight into top employers in that field and speak to other graduates/students to gain even greater knowledge and build key soft skills.

Also, Bright Network provides a huge database of tips for employability ranging from assessment centre and interview tips, to how to write a CV that stands out. Utilising those tools really help to improve your performance in the latter stages of the typical recruitment process and certainly help you get there to begin with which is crucial to securing a role.

What’s been the toughest interview question you've faced and how did you tackle it?

"In a hypothetical scenario where you're working on an integral part of a project for a key client but your supervisor, who is working alongside you, falls ill and can't work. This leaves you with all of the remaining workloads but there isn't enough time to complete it all unless you skip a few steps. What do you do and why? It is worth noting that you cannot contact the client to extend the deadline."

I approached it as I would normally approach a question with multiple ambiguous variables. Take a moment (no more than 30 seconds, should be plenty of time) to think about the scenario and then what options there are. In this example, I looked to review the remaining workload, see what areas I couldn't do or do without guidance, then seek help from someone who could help do them. If that wasn't an option, I would review which steps were the least integral to the process and therefore could afford to be delayed until the return of my supervisor or someone becomes free to assist on them.

Did you use Bright Network Academy in your career search and if so, how did it help you?

Yes, the Sector 101s are brilliant modules that really help to improve commercial awareness, knowledge of what the sector actually is and what role you could play in it. The psychometric test components are also good to practice for the real ones on your applications too.

Once again, the modules based around improving applications and employability are magic and really help to strengthen even the strongest applications, also they have really good tips for interview and assessment centre etiquette which is useful to those that might not have had an interview or assessment centre before or in a while and therefore a bit rusty or unsure as what to expect and how to ace them.

What top three tips would you give Bright Network members looking to follow in your footsteps?

1. Applications - don't apply to jobs you don't want/aren't enthused about just for the sake of applying to jobs. Apply to opportunities that enthuse you and make you want to be there.
2. Networking - always build your network, you never know who might come in handy. That person you play tennis with at the weekend who has worked in a seemingly unrelated industry to yours might provide you with key insight to working in that industry, provide a great character reference for you or have someone in their network looking to hire.
3. Feedback - again, feedback is key! Don't take the rejection personally and seek to improve your skills in areas that may be weaker than others. Find out what you could've done better in, then act on it, no point in knowing and not changing. i.e., if you're weaker at presenting, join a speaker’s club or practice speaking in front of people you know.